DATE: June 28, 2023
TO: Council Infrastructure Committee
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: BART Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Prioritization and Work Plan Update
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council Infrastructure Committee (CIC) reviews and comments on this report.
SUMMARY
This report is to update the CIC on the Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Prioritization and Phase II work plan. BART is currently updating their work plan for Phase II TOD at BART stations to align their priorities with current local interest, readiness, and markets. A survey was sent to all jurisdictions with developable BART-owned and operated land to inform them of this update on March 29, 2023. Once responses have been analyzed, BART staff plans to prioritize stations based on the readiness of the local jurisdiction for TOD. This report provides information on the criteria BART is using to determine local readiness.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
On March 21, 2023, Council approved a referral from Councilmember Syrop and Councilmember Andrews requesting that staff:
Engage with BART staff to better understand how to improve Hayward’s ranking in BART’s Phase II TOD work plan.
Invite BART staff to present at Council Subcommittee meetings.
Identify and evaluate funding opportunities to improve Hayward’s ranking.
This informational report is a response to the first item above. Since March, staff has engaged with BART staff to develop a working relationship and inquire about the status of the work plan and the key factors that increases a City’s ranking within that plan. BART staff is aware of Hayward’s political support for and interest in having TOD at Hayward stations. BART staff expressed that they would prefer to wait until they have presented the survey findings and draft work plan to the BART Board before presenting to any jurisdictions. BART staff does not have a firm timeline for releasing their Phase II work plan but anticipates it will go to their Board in the coming months.
Staff has not yet had the capacity to evaluate funding opportunities for TOD at BART stations but has added that to staff’s FY24 work plan per the Strategic Roadmap.
BART Phase I and Phase II TOD Work Plans
BART adopted its current Phase I work plan for TOD development in 2016, which was updated in 2020. To date, BART has developed 4,140 units with another 3,460 units planned at 16 stations. Together, 36% of these units are affordable.
BART is currently working to create a Phase II ten-year work plan to align their priorities with current local interest, readiness, and markets. On March 29, 2023, BART sent a survey to all jurisdictions with developable BART-owned and operated land to inform them of this update. The survey was completed by 22 jurisdictions, with 19 of them interested in pursuing TOD in the first five years (2023-2027) of BART’s revised work plan. BART staff is currently reviewing all survey responses and plans to send follow up questions in the coming weeks.
BART’s survey questions fell into three general categories: local support, infrastructure needs and market readiness. These categories will be the criteria that BART uses to determine a jurisdiction’s readiness for future TOD projects. These categories are explained in more detail below:
Market Readiness
In the current work plan, BART prioritized sites where physical and market conditions are conducive to transit-supportive development. BART advanced projects where site-specific development programs were deemed financially feasible and responsive to unmet market demands. BART evaluated market readiness of each property considering short- and long-term competitiveness for residential and office uses, physical readiness of the neighborhood to support walkable, bikeable development and the availability of tools to help streamline development. To inform the work plan update, BART asked jurisdictions to share information that they have about notable changes in land use or market conditions within the station area (1/2 mile) since 2018 as well as notable infrastructure improvements, neighborhood amenities and services in the station area since 2018.
Local Support
Partner cities play a key role in delivering BART’s TOD projects, both through political support and through direct staff resources and funding. Support can include building permit review, construction oversight, ensuring a project is complemented with critical city street and station access improvements, and financially contributing to affordable housing and other public amenities. BART seeks to gauge the extent to which the local jurisdiction has expressed interest in the near term, whether the zoning is already in place, and whether there has been outreach conducted to the community about the potential for TOD development. In the survey, staff was asked about their capacity and resources to dedicate needed staff time to each TOD project (sometimes totaling as much as 1.5 FTE depending on the complexity of the project).
Infrastructure Needs
BART is prioritizing sites where development will have minimal impact on BART operations and require limited infrastructure investment. Some major infrastructure challenges can include parking management issues, major easements, and physical barriers (flood channels, railroad infrastructure, etc.). In considering TOD sites, projects have benefited from funding and expertise provided by local redevelopment agencies as well as state and federal grants as BART cannot absorb the costs for major infrastructure improvements that may be needed at some sites. In the survey, staff was asked about what role the local jurisdiction would play in parking solutions and other infrastructure needs.
Hayward City Staff Response to Survey
In the survey, City staff identified the Hayward BART Station and the South Hayward BART Station as the City’s first and second priority stations, respectively. Staff cited the Downtown Specific Plan that was adopted in 2019, which includes a half-mile radius of the station area when asked if the City met zoning targets. When asked about any potential physical or infrastructure challenges, staff identified bicycle infrastructure investments to provide additional connectivity to the regional network along Mission Blvd and A Street for the Hayward Station. As for the South Hayward Station, Staff identified residents’ concerns about pedestrian and bicyclist-involved collisions in the station area given the relatively low pedestrian mode share and the absence of cut-through paths when crossing the train tracks on Tennyson Road.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item is only an informational report and has no fiscal impact. Staff will return at a future date with an evaluation of funding opportunities for TOD at BART stations.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
This item supports the Strategic Priority of Preserve, Protect and Produce Housing for All. Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following project:
HC11- Work with BART to encourage Transit-Oriented Development at the two Hayward stations
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to engage with BART staff. Once the finalized work plan is available, staff will return to Council with a report with staffing and funding impacts.
Prepared by: Irene Perez, Management Analyst
Recommended by: Dustin Claussen, Assistant City Manager Approved by:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
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